September 19th, 2011

A/N: So I'm taking Chinese for a semester due to the fact that I don't have state history yet, and today we had a Caucasian sub. She didn't even speak Chinese. It was by far the most pointless class EVER! And it was really, really boring. Annnyways…thank you so much Cat (kitcat234 for those of you who want to read her amazing George/Hermione fan fictions) for beta reading this for me. You are appreciated as much as reviews are (which is very much, by the way)! As for what Cassie says about books…that's totally something taken straight from my mouth.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter Three

"Oh-I-um…" Cassie stammered, not knowing what to make of the scene in front of her. Draco was leaning against the reception, his eyes closed as if he were desperately wishing he was somewhere else. Cassie assumed that was true, but she couldn't be too sure, could she? Healer Malfoy was the unpredictable type. He came off as arrogant and maybe a bit rude, but once you got to know him he was an entirely different person.

As for…whoever that woman was, well, her smile seemed friendly enough, and she was quite pretty, yet there was something about the way her smile didn't reach her cold green eyes that chilled Cassie to the bone. Draco had always joked about how if she had gone to Hogwarts instead of been homeschooled, Cassie would have been a Hufflepuff.

"You are not my future wife," Draco said shortly. He rolled his eyes. "Cassie, this is Astoria Greengrass. I was in the same year as her older sister Daphne. Who is, by the way, much more tolerable than someone in present company," he added with a pointed look at Astoria.

Cassie seemed to notice what was going on, but she took it the wrong way. Her expression turned sympathetic. "Did you two have a harsh break-up, then?"

Draco had to fight to keep his jaw from dropping. "For Merlin's sake, I thought I told you I hadn't been in a relationship since school!" He paused for a moment. "I just realized how sad that sounds."

Meanwhile Astoria took advantage of Cassie's innocent question. "I'm afraid so. I've been trying to get dear Draco to reconsider for over a year now." She sniffed, just for good measure.

Astoria was laying it on rather thickly, and Cassie began to consider the possibility that she was only vying for Draco's affection for the money, or some other reason that was just as despicable. Although sweet and quite naïve, Cassie deserved a lot more credit than most people gave her. She had a knack for separating lies from the truth, and she put that ability to use to help Draco out of a bind.

"Yes, well, Healer Malfoy is going to be very busy soon, so if I could ask you to please leave, Ms. Greengrass," Cassie said, apologetically but in a tone that meant she would not take no for an answer. Draco arched an eyebrow in approval. He hadn't ever seen this side of his younger coworker before. Astoria tended to bring out the best and worst in everyone she met.

That grace, that beauty, was only to lure her victims in. Once she was satisfied that she had them in her web, Astoria revealed her real personality, much like a veela when angered. Actually, Draco found that, if he gave it much consideration, Astoria Greengrass was very much like a full-blooded veela, very much indeed, which was hard to digest when Daphne was everything a Slytherin should not have been.

"I do not wish to disturb my love from his work, and therefore I will take my leave, but I will be back." Astoria eyed Draco as if she were contemplated whether or not to prove that love she proclaimed physically, but something about Draco stopped her.

Once the awful woman was gone, Draco breathed a sigh of relief.

"I have never, ever disliked someone as much as I dislike her so soon after meeting them," Cassie announced. Draco probably wouldn't get offended by her bashing of Astoria. At least, she hoped not.

Draco snorted and made Cassie's unease completely disappear. "You're not the only one, Cassie. It'd hard to believe she's related to Daphne."

"Were you friends with her sister while you were in school?" Cassie asked, propping her head up on her hands. She didn't know too much about the healer's personal life, but she didn't take any offense by it. Draco simply wasn't the type to voluntarily give out information about himself, and he closed up the minute someone started asking questions.

"Not really, no," Draco replied, with a tinge of regret. "You know about everything my family was involved in, and I assume you've heard about how nasty I was as a child from others. I stayed away from Daphne because my father thought she was a blood traitor. That's why he wanted me to marry Astoria instead of her. I don't believe I'd have minded so much if it was Daphne, even if I hate the idea of arranged marriage in the twenty-first century."

"Oh, but that would have been so romantic! You would have gotten married to Daphne, and then you two would realize that you loved each other after all!" Cassie exclaimed, clasping her hands above her heart dramatically.

Draco laughed and decided to not completely destroy the dreamer in Cassie. "You need to stop reading those Muggle romance books of yours."

"How could I possibly do that? They're the highlight of my day!"

"I thought seeing me was the highlight of your day," Draco said, pretending to wounded.

Cassie thought for a moment before shaking her head, a grin still playing on her lips. "No, the books are still more important than you."

Hermione frowned at the paper in front of her. No, that can't be right…old Death Eaters are having their time in Azkaban reduced? What the bloody hell is going on? Outraged, Hermione stormed out of her office, causing her secretary, Gina, to stare after her in surprise.

"Gruesen!" Hermione bellowed, not even bothering to slam the door behind her. "What is the meaning of this?" She shook the paper in front of his face, her eyes daring him to try and deny what was in writing right there.

Richard Gruesen cleared his throat, stalling for time before he answered. "Normally I'd be quite happy to have you barging into my office, but this isn't going as I hoped," he said with a calmness that infuriated Hermione. "As for the proposition…aren't you the one who is saying that people deserve second chances? Isn't that why you went out to lunch with someone you hated back from Hogwarts today?"

"How could you possibly know about that? Wait, that isn't even the point! Aside from the fact that you shouldn't be prying into my personal life, you should realize that this goes against everything we've been working for this past year! Death Eaters are not human, in any way. They are cruel and vile people, and do not deserve our pity," Hermione replied, lowering her voice when she became aware of the fact that everyone else in the department could probably hear her. All too vividly she remembered being tortured in Malfoy Manor, by magical and Muggle means. She swallowed, hard, but she was not about to delve back into the past like that. She was a stronger person because of that experience, whether she liked it or not.

"So you actually did hate this person?" Gruesen asked, and Hermione decided that he was purposefully avoiding the subject at hand.

"Not as much as I hate you right now," Hermione spat. "Laws are meant to protect people. In what way is releasing criminals protecting them?"

Richard regarded the fiery witch in front of him with something that was not quite respect. He wasn't paying attention to whatever came out of Granger's mouth. No, he was focusing on how sexy she was when she was passionate about something. It was such a shame that she was caught up in that loser, Weasley.

"Are you even listening to me?" Hermione yelled. "You need to learn how to get off of your lazy arse and actually do something beneficial to someone besides yourself!" Then she calmed down considerably. "And you know what? I quit."

She didn't know what to do. She had exited the building in the heat of the moment after quickly packing up her belongings and saying goodbye to Gina, but Hermione hadn't thought about what she was going to do after. Going back to the Burrow would mean answering some awkward questions, and Harry and Ron were busy making their dreams come true.

Then again, Ron had always told Hermione that she could visit him at the Auror academy whenever she felt the need to. More like Harry had said it and Ron agreed, but they both meant well.

Hermione quietly apparated straight into Ginny's room to rid her hands of her small box of things from work. It was three o' clock now, and at least two more hours would pass before someone around her age would be there to talk to. Sighing, Hermione apparated back to Diagon Alley to return two of the books she had borrowed to Flourish and Blotts.

"Hello, Hermione," Andy said, looking startled but not displeased to see her there.

Hermione managed a wan smile as she handed the novels to him across the counter. "Thanks again. I'll be back sometime this week."

She turned to leave, but Andy's voice stopped her.

"What's wrong, lass?"

Well, she had wanted to talk to somebody about it. Hermione sighed and sat down on the barstool next to Andy.

"So today Gruesen was being even worse than usual," Hermione began. Andy had heard enough about her boss to despise him on his own. "I was sorting through some propositions to approve, and someone suggested releasing Death Eaters out of Azkaban before their sentences are over! And Gruesen wouldn't even talk about it! He just changed the subject every time, or completely ignored it."

Andy raked his hand through his hair. Business was usually slow on Mondays, but some students liked to get their shopping done early, so there was no telling when a customer would enter the store. Hermione was his friend, though, and Andy had made it a point to be there to listen whenever she needed it.

"Why is it that I feel you're leaving something important out?" Andy asked mildly. Hermione was terribly good at hiding her emotions behind a mask, and he had learned to dread the indifferent façade that made him think of Ron more than her rampages.

Hermione's curly brown hair hid her sheepish expression. "I may have quit my job," she admitted meekly. Andy's eyes practically bugged out of his head. "Well, you should have seen him! For one, he was asking me all sorts of nonsense about who I went to lunch with today, and then, he wasn't even being professional, at all. He's not a person fit for being the head of our department! He doesn't care about the work he's doing, and he has no drive other than to hit on all the women at work."

"I'm aware of that, but I thought you wanted to make a difference for house-elves and other creatures, and that's why you stuck with your job for so long?"

"Do you think I made a mistake? Because I do want to help them, it's just gotten really hard lately." Hermione sighed. "That makes me sound so selfish. I quit without even thinking about Gina and what she's going to do now! But I can't go back to the Ministry. It's so corrupt, and there's so much wrong with it that I doubt that I'd have lasted much longer if I hadn't walked out today."

"I never thought of you as the type to give up so easily, Hermione. Weren't you so determined to earn house-elves rights that you started a club back in, what, your sixth year? Not many teenagers can say they did anything for what they believed in back then, except for maybe Harry, but you know he doesn't count in this case. I'm sorry if I've offended you, but I want to make sure you're alright with your decision, that you don't have any regrets."

Hermione felt ashamed of herself. But she wouldn't do something like go back against her word. She wanted to help house-elves – truly, she did. She just couldn't take Richard Gruesen any longer.

And she knew she was only trying to make herself look better in her own eyes. It wasn't working. Andy seemed to know what was running through her mind, or maybe he simply guessed from the shadows flashing across her face, because he hugged her as best he could while sitting down.

"You'll make the right decision. After all, you aren't called the brightest witch of the age for nothing," he said.

Hermione's smile was weak, but it was there. "Thank you, Andy. Now I'm going to try and regain my sense. I don't know where my brain went, so I'd better go find it."

Feeling a bit better, yet mainly guilty, she went back to the Burrow and decided to stick it out until Ron and the others came back. She needed to talk to them. If discussing everything with Andy had helped, then maybe she could hope that the people closest to her would make her decision easier. Then again, since when was Ron the type of boyfriend to give helpful advice? Hermione shook her head quickly to clear it of such thoughts. Ron did the best he could, and that was all that mattered.

Managing to slip past Mrs. Weasley with only a small wave, Hermione settled down on the couch, with a book, an excuse if someone tried to talk to her before she was ready. A cowardly way out, but definitely an effective one.

Hermione really hadn't spent that much time at Flourish and Blotts, but it was still longer than a normal visit would have gone on. Oh well. It wasn't like anyone had been around to wonder about it.

"Hey, you're back early," Harry said, approaching Hermione with Ron shortly behind him. "Normally you don't get home until after us."

"Actually, I have something to tell you guys." Hermione's eyes flicked from her two best friends in the whole world to the fabric of the pillow she was hugging to her chest.

"What is it, 'Mione?" Ron asked, obviously concerned as he sat down next to her. He took her hand in his; if there was ever anything Ron had been good at, it was being affectionate. At that moment, Hermione appreciated it.

"I quit my job today," she confessed, looking at first Harry and then Ron.

To her surprise, a ghost of a smile was flickering on Harry's face. Hermione opened her mouth to ask him what was so funny, but he held up a hand. They had always been able to read each other well. That much hadn't changed.

"I was wondering when you'd get around to it. I think you could do better than the Ministry, Hermione. You can make a difference without their help. You're part of the trio, you know, and you could use that to publicize. The rest you can do on your own, I'm sure of it."

Hermione beamed and stood up to give Harry a hug. "Thank you, that means a lot to me." Ron wrapped an arm around her shoulders once she was by his side once again, and he nodded to show that, once again, he was supporting what Harry said.

She had thought that after Harry's pep talk the matter was dropped. Sometimes Hermione wondered how she had ever been considered the brains of the trio.

"What brought it on, exactly? I know you had a lot of reasons, but you never did anything about it until now." That was Harry, again. Hermione appreciated that, although Ron was his best friend until the end, with her, they didn't have to say anything to understand each other.

"Today I was going through some propositions to be considered," Hermione said, going over her story for the second time that day. "And one was to let Death Eaters out of Azkaban before they completed their sentences. I thought it was complete rubbish, and went to complain to Gruesen, but he acted as if I hadn't said anything about it. Not to mention the fact that he kept bothering me about whom I went to lunch with. Not that it's any of his business, but of course he wants to know everything that's going on when it doesn't concern him."

Of all the things she had told them, she hadn't expected Ron to cling to the one part she considered the least important.

"Who you went to lunch with? Well, who was it?"

"Ron, does it even matter?" Hermione asked, looking and sounding quite exasperated. "I just told you the reason I quit my job, which was because they wanted to consider letting Death Eaters out before it was their time, and you're wondering who I went to lunch with?"

"Answer my question," Ron said, with the stubbornness and determination of a small child.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "If you must know, I was having lunch with a friend."

"Does that friend have a name?"

She hesitated for a moment, trying to figure out how Ron would react if she told him the truth. She could always lie and say Gina, but she was the one who said honesty was important in a healthy relationship. Besides, surely Ron was mature enough to let go of childish rivalries, right?

"It was Draco."

"Malfoy? The Amazing Bouncing Ferret?" Ron exclaimed, unknowingly copying his sister's reaction, although to a higher level.

Then, to Hermione's complete surprise, Ron grew quiet.

"Never mind. You're old enough to choose who you want to be friends with. Who am I to stop you?" He shrugged, and glanced towards the door. "I'm going to go on a walk. See you lot later."

Hermione stared at Harry. "What on earth was that about?"

A/N: I always thought that as Ron grew older, he wouldn't be as quick with his temper. Instead, he'd brood over things in private. As I've kind of gone through this before, I think that Hermione would get fed up at his lack of reaction, and therefore some interesting developments would ensue. That's jut my opinion. I'll see if I can convince you guys later ;)

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